“Who are you? Who am I? Razakar, Razakar”—a slogan that echoed across Bangladesh, bringing down Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed’s 15-year rule on August 5, 2024. What began as a massive student movement against the unjust civil service quota system soon expanded into a significant socio-political upheaval across the nation. According to recent updates from Reuters and BBC, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has fled Bangladesh and is reportedly seeking refuge somewhere in India.

The political turmoil began when the Supreme Court of Bangladesh reinstated a 30% quota for freedom fighters’ descendants in civil services and other government jobs, overturning the government’s earlier decision to reform the quota system in response to the 2018 Bangladesh quota reform movement. This decision sparked widespread protests and boycotts from students across the country who felt that the 30% quota would further restrict their job opportunities in an already strained economy.

Unsurprisingly, Sheikh Hasina’s government responded brutally, using police, border forces, paramilitary units, and even the army to suppress the unarmed protesters. She inflamed tensions by labeling the protesters as “Razakars,” a term loaded with historical connotations. During the 1971 Liberation War, “Razakars” were collaborators who sided with Pakistan, and in modern Bangladeshi politics, the term is synonymous with traitor.

Students argued that the quota system was rooted in patronage,........

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